


Faking Sleep

by HeyRachelViolet



Category: Brave (2012), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Bad Parent Stoick the Vast, But I needed a bad guy, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Half-Siblings, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III Needs a Hug, I swear i like him, Platonic Cuddling, Protective Siblings, Protective Younger Siblings, Sharing a Bed, Sibling Bonding, Single Parents, and he gets one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:56:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26536177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeyRachelViolet/pseuds/HeyRachelViolet
Summary: "Hiccup was faking sleep and his siblings knew it.":::OR: Hiccup is tired and stressed and he doesn't see his siblings very often; Stoic needs to chill; and Rapunzel is the best little sister.
Relationships: Hiccup Haddock III & Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood) & Merida (Disney) & Rapunzel (Disney), Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood), Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Merida (Disney), Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Rapunzel (Disney)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 54





	Faking Sleep

**Author's Note:**

> IMPORTANT: This was originally posted on an old account. I promise I'm not plagiarizing. Now on to other matters.
> 
> Hi!!! It's good to see you! Please enjoy some slightly angsty fluff with some cute siblings.
> 
> Birth order is: Hiccup, Merida, Jack, Rapunzel

Hiccup was faking sleep and his siblings knew it. The Vinikg Enterprises heir slept like a rock on his best days, stress inescapable while awake bleeding away in the wake of exhaustion until he seemed to melt into his bedding. But even though he was half curled up on his bed, back to the door and his siblings’ concern, trying to look relaxed, the tight knots through his body made him seem rigid.

Jack and Merida traded worried glances over their sister’s head. The one week a month they were all in the same house and before they’d even finished greeting each other, their dad had barged in, first with overbearing welcome, quickly deteriorating into a lecture about how Hiccup was meant to be working, then escalating into a one-sided shouting match about responsibility. 

Merida felt shame burn in her stomach remembering how she had just watched everything happen. She hadn’t known how to react to the verbal assault on her brother, and apparently the other two hadn’t either. If someone had taken a swing, if it was some random jerk looking to throw a couple punches, that she could deal with. This was out of her wheelhouse. So they’d looked on as Hiccup ducked his head, color rising in his cheeks, stature slowly, steadily bowing inward as his quiet arguments went unheard. 

When he’d run out of things to yell, Stoick had taken a long breath, told Hiccup he’d see him in the morning, shot the three only just in the doorway a smile, and walked out. 

There had been a long moment of heart stopping tension where no one moved.

Then Hiccup turned around with a smile that, while warm, didn’t leave any room for discussion, and helped haul their things up to their respective rooms. The four of them spent the rest of the afternoon and late into the night talking, catching up on the day to day of each other’s lives: siblings, moms, and stepdads included.

Merida complained at every opportunity about the antics of her triplet little brothers, referring to them charmingly as “devils”. Rapunzel bemoaned the tortures of going to private school and how her misfortune most definitely meant that she would never get her chance to talk to the amazing Flyn, who lived down the street and was absolutely perfect under the veneer of troublemaker. Jack spoke animatedly of his hockey team and the kid in his class he referred to only as “Bunny” who apparently hated him because of a little mishap involving midterm projects.

And if Hiccup asked more questions than he answered and didn’t once bring up his job at their father’s rather lucrative company, well, the others didn’t push. They endured Hiccup’s fussing and jumped on the chance to tease him about his stringbean physique at Rapunzel’s claim that this week she was making it her personal mission to fatten her oldest brother up. No sibling of her and her baking skills was allowed to be such a twig. He took the ribbing with his usual good natured sarcasm.

It was well past midnight when Rapunzel declared that she was going to sleep and they all better as well because she was dragging their butts out of bed first thing in the morning so they could do something together. 

Almost an hour later she’d crept back out of her room, intending to make sure her oldest brother actually made it to his bed, rather than getting distracted by one of his many projects. What she found was a door half open, a desk lamp still on, and a figure clad in grey sweatpants and green pajama shirt on top of the covers and distinctly unrestful.

They all had large rooms with large beds and Hiccup’s six foot two body had never looked so unbearably small as it did at that moment.

“Hiccup? You ok?” He didn’t respond. It made her eyes prick with tears because Hiccup always responded.

After another moment hesitating in the doorway Rapunzel padded back down the hall to Merida’s room, then Jack’s, pulling the two of them back to Hiccup’s door. For nearly a full minute they stood, not knowing what to do. Rapunzel broke the standstill, tiptoeing into the room. She saw her brother’s very slight flinch as she climbed up onto the bed and over his body, wriggling her way under his arm and curling into his chest. She could smell detergent on the fabric brushing the tip of her nose. 

Hiccup’s arm shifted around her into a more convenient position. The smile Rapunzel hid was triumphant. She knew he was awake.

The bedsprings creaked as a weight settled on Hiccup’s other side. There was room for a whole other person between his back and the edge of the bed. A space Merida filled, draping one arm over Hiccup’s waist, forehead resting against his back. The mattress dipped farther as Jack clambered over the sister-Hiccup sandwich to Rapunzel’s back, reaching across his little sister to lay his arm along his brother’s. They would be eye to eye if Hiccup would only drop the charade and let them look after him for a minute. But he didn’t

The four of them laid like that for nearly ten minutes before Merida broke the stillness, her mother’s accent bleeding heavily through her words with her concern.

“Hiccup, does dad talk to you like that often?” Hiccup didn’t answer verbally, but he went rigid, curling around his youngest sister, away from the question, and that was enough. Merida bit back a sigh and shuffled closer, closing the sudden gap, moving one arm under his, resting a hand on his chest. “‘S not right,” she whispered, tightening her hold like a hug. Already squishing Rapunzel, Jack pushed himself further into the center, bringing his forehead to meet Hiccup’s over Rapunzel’s hair, hand leaving Hiccup’s arm to rest on the back of Hiccup’s neck, thumb on his cheek, keeping him from retreating.

“She’s right,” he said quietly. “You didn’t deserve that.” Rapunzel felt Hiccup’s chest seize, trying to hold everything together. It occurred to her that she couldn't remember the last time she’d seen Hiccup cry. His life had always seemed so stable compared to the rest of theirs, what with only living in one house and only dealing with one parent’s expectations. But it suddenly seemed that maybe those expectations were harder to meet than she originally thought. He had always been their wonky family’s focal point. A solid pillar of strength in a world that tended to tilt without warning. But he was only 17.

His breath shuddered a few times before he seemed to gain control again. Rapunzel hated it. She wanted him to break down. Just a little. Because this was worth tears. It was a big deal. He understood that, right?

Hiccup didn’t open his eyes, but he finally acknowledged that they were there and trying to help.

“Guys, it’s fine.” His voice was rough, though he was trying to hide it. He sniffed. “He’s just a little mad because I screwed something up earlier this week. Nothing new right?” He added the last bit with a wet chuckle. Rapunzel shook her head, feeling the front of her hair matt with the friction.

“No,” Merida’s voice had a note of pleading in it. “I’s not fine.” She felt a little air woosh out of his chest.

“Whether you made a mistake or not,” Jack said gravely, “there’s no reason for him to talk to you like that.” 

It seemed like Hiccup couldn’t get the air he had lost back in. He sucked in shuddering gasps that didn’t fill his lungs to full capacity. He hunched over Rapunzel, holding her tighter, like he was trying to protect them both from something, but there was nothing to shield her from. Just careless words spinning through his head, an overwhelming soundtrack of failures and disappointments. 

Jack watched, almost mesmerized by the sight of his calm, put together older brother fraying around the edges. Watched his face crumple. Watched the first tear slide into his hair.

Silent tears quickly dissolved into harsh sobbing as his siblings pressed in, trying to offer love and comfort and reassurance. It sort of worked.

The first thing Hiccup said when he could speak properly again was, “I’m sorry.” 

Rapunzel whimpered, hardly holding back her own tears. Merida propped herself up on an elbow, combing his hair out of red rimmed eyes still shut tight.

“No,” she whispered. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. You’ve every right to feel what you’re feeling. Understand?” He nodded shakily. Merida smiled sadly, leaning down to press a kiss to his cheek.

Then she stood. Jack sat up and Hiccup loosened his deathgrip on Rapunzel, thinking she would move too, but she stayed put. The lamp went out with a click and Merida’s weight settled against his back again. Jack’s soon followed, accompanied by the soft blanket that had been folded over the end of the bed.

Hiccup was the first to fall asleep, the warm pressure of his siblings’ bodies all around him. When he woke up in the early morning, they were still there, solid and reassuring. He drifted back into a light doze despite the light streaming in through the window, refusing to worry about the day to come just yet.

**Author's Note:**

> “It’s funny how people don’t give that much thought to what kids want, as long as they’re being quiet.”  
>  ~The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
> 
> Thank you for giving me your time. It is a precious gift.
> 
> ~Rachel


End file.
